Guerrero said he wants the museum, as a regional destination, to get people to visit Escondido.

“I’d like to see the museum bring tax dollars to Escondido,” he said. “We want to do our part to generate a positive image for our community.”

Guerrero was working as director of development with SurfAid International when he was recruited by Trull for the executive director position. He interned at the Museum of Man in Balboa Park while earning a degree in anthropology at the University of San Diego. Guerrero, who earned a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University and completed a management and leadership program at UC San Diego, later served as a curator and eventually operations manager for the Museum of Man.

Guerrero, 37, said he visited the museum with his wife, 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son before taking the job. As someone with a young family who is bicultural and bilingual, Guerrero said he is in the museum’s target demographic.

Development director Sheri Popejoy, who was hired in April, is equally enthusiastic about the museum’s new staff and its mission.

“We genuinely care about each other, the city and the legacy,” said Popejoy, who has 10 years of nonprofit fundraising experience. “It’s got a great reputation and we just want to expand on that.”

Rounding out the leadership team is operations manager Lisa Verschueren, who has 26 years of nonprofit management experience, and education and programs manager Colleen Slotman, who has four years of nonprofit experience and came to the museum from The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

The staff is working on expanding its presence, reaching out to schools, libraries and civic groups. Plans also include community advisory committees for programs, fundraising and marketing, Guerrero said.

The museum has an “active play” mission based on exploration and imagination, Guerrero said. “Everything needs to be hands-on, interactive. We really want to be a safe, fun learning place.”

The themes of world culture and science can be seen around the museum’s indoor and outdoor space, where children can play in the Wildlife Treehouse, don costumes on the Imagination Stage or get a glimpse of the past in the Pioneer Schoolhouse.

Founder Ragazzi, who said that as a young parent more than 10 years ago she saw the need for a children’s museum, said she still finds excitement in “inspiring children to learn about the world.”

Museum supporters and officials are looking ahead to continued growth and success.

“This is such an exciting time for the children’s museum,” said board secretary Carmen Nava, who is Ragazzi’s sister. “We find ourselves at this amazing crossroads.”